


the sun, and everything that thrives beneath it

by loopah



Series: loopah's Trope Bingo: Round 12 [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Foot Fetish, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Multi, Other, Role Reversal, Trope Bingo Round 12
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-10-18 11:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17580197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loopah/pseuds/loopah
Summary: a collection of fills for Trope Bingo Round 12 on Dreamwidth. anything that wasn't long enough to be a standalone. tags will be updated as bingos are completed.find my bingo cardhere.





	1. ad interim (gen/implied soriku - role reversal)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> because it's what he _deserves,_ that's why

“Where could he be?!” Donald laments. The dulcet tones of his silky-smooth voice reverberate hypnotically off the polished marble. The way his velvety voice carries through the entire throne room is just... mesmerizing.

And when he does that shrill shrieking thing when he's really pissed off – the one that's usually accompanied by foot-stomping and arm-flailing?

Oh, man. It's heavenly, really.

Riku could never get tired of it.

And he certainly couldn't shove two letter-openers into his ears and twist them until his eardrums are completely decimated.

“I'm sure he's around somewhere,” Sora assures the duck. He takes another three-sixty scan of the room. As if there's something he might have overlooked. As if the room isn't completely empty but for the them and the throne. “Maybe he left a message or something?”

“We should spread out. We can cover more ground that way,” Riku says seriously.

“Great idea!” Sora beams at him like the little dope that he is. (Riku might feel bad about teasing the kid if he wasn't such an absolute clown – in the most complimentary sense of the word, of course.) He turns to Donald and Goofy. “Split up, guys!”

Riku watches as they fan out to comb toward the back of the room, hunching and craning comedically as they scour every inch of the floor, walls, and ceiling. Those three hilarious caricatures.

Riku shakes his head and turns to go. He figures he'll leave them to their little hunt and go talk to Daisy. There's not a thing that goes on in the castle that she doesn't know about. If anyone has any idea where the King might be, it's–

Huh?

There's a pedestal where there wasn't one before. Smooth white stone pedestal with an ornate capital, florets and shells and a lion's head. On top sits a sealed envelope, crisp and white, high-quality paper. A golden wax seal with two M's interlinked, tastefully decorative. It's the royal stationary.

Riku picks it up.

“Hey,” he calls out to the others. “That message-” He lifts his head to see them already looking. Raises the envelope for them to see. “No chance he'd put it in a very conspicuous envelope with the royal seal, is there?”

“Hey!” Sora canters over. Pats him on the arm. “Nice find.”

“Thanks. It was really well-hidden on top of this pedestal in the middle of the room.” _Which just appeared here out of nowhere,_ he doesn't say. He hands Sora the letter.

Donald and Goofy cross the floor to join them. They all four stand in silence, Sora reading the letter while the others _watch_ him read the letter. Waiting to hear what the King has to say which, knowing him, is either some earth-shatteringly horrible piece of news like _The worlds are all being swallowed up by darkness again_ or something completely different, like _I'm hiding in the castle somewhere, come find me. :-)_

Judging by Sora's expression, it's probably something closer to the former. “It says he's on a journey,” he says finally.

“A journey?” Donald parrots. (Nails on a chalkboard. A letter-opener, someone, please.)

“What kinda joruney?” Goofy asks, tapping his chin.

Sora shakes his head. “Doesn't say. Probably something important.” He looks back down at the letter. “Hey, Riku?” he says.

“Yeah?” Riku answers cautiously. He doesn't much care for that tone of voice.

Sora looks at him straight-faced. “It says you're the king.”

He waits for the punchline. The bike horn, the streamers. The spring-loaded snakes from one of those fake cans of peanut brittle.

None of those things come.

“What?” He's remarkably calm in his delivery. Which is a little bit surprising, actually, because his first instinct was to scream. It's the single most horrifically unfunny joke he's ever heard in his life.

“'Tell Riku he's my _regent ad interim_ ,'” Sora reads straight off the page, “'and tell Sora that means he's the substitute king, because I don't think he knows what _ad interim_ means.” A pause. He frowns. “Hey,” he grumbles.

“Nu-uh.” Terribly unfunny. Nightmarishly unfunny.

“Yeah-huh, it says so right here!” Sora points the line out. Riku snatches the paper from his hand. “And I do so know what _ad-_ ” Another pause. His frown deepens. “I knew that word!” he shouts.

Riku frantically reads the note over. One time. Two times. Three times, and every time it's there, written just as Sora had read it out. He starts to panic a little bit.

“This doesn't make any sense.” He shakes his head and looks the memo over again, sees the letters without reading them. “Why would he choose me? I don't know... I don't know anything.” He looks to Sora, which is usually his go-to in these sorts of situations, right before he breaks down into full-on anxiety mode. Sora always meets his gaze with a reassuring stare, grounding and firm like the one he's giving him right now. It doesn't pacify him, nor does it do anything to remedy the situation at hand; it just makes Riku feel a little bit less like he's going to implode.

“I reckon the King named you his backup king 'cuz he likes you, Riku!” Goofy says to him. “After all, the two of you spent a whole lotta time gettin' to know each other while you were off adventurin'!”

“That's right!” Donald squawks. “The King is an excellent judge of character!”

Riku shakes his head again. “But why me and not-” He huffs a frustrated breath. Forces himself up straight once he realizes how hunched-over he is. “Why not Sora? He's the one who's 'chosen' or whatever!”

“I already have a job,” Sora says simply. “I'm your faithful knight.” He strikes a gallant pose in an attempt to make Riku laugh. It makes him do something, but he wouldn't exactly call it a laugh. An exasperated creaking sound that's really more his expressing his astonishment at how seriously under-reacting everyone else seems to be. Sora must not be able to tell the difference. “See?” He puts Riku on the receiving end of another one of his patented Disarming Smiles™. “The King knows what he's doing, Riku. You should trust him.”

There's a long moment of silence as Riku tries to formulate a thought. (Near-silence, anyway. His stomach rumbles. Another thing that happens when he's nervous.) Finally he comes up with something to say. An important something. Something which for some reason hasn't been asked yet. “Why does he need a backup when he's got-”

The doors to the throne room fly open. Daisy rushes in from the corridor. “Minnie's gone!” she exclaims.

“What?!” Riku and Sora shout in tandem. Donald and Goofy both make sounds which are equally as shocked but far more humorous.

“I can't find her anywhere!” Daisy's shoes clack as she walks, echo all the way up to the vaulted ceilings. “The guards have searched everywhere! There's no sign of her!”

“None?” Sora gapes. If Kairi were here, she would put her hand under his chin and close his mouth for him. It's a bit of theirs.

“Nothing!” She shakes her feathered head. She's wearing a pantsuit, much to Riku's surprise, and a very well-tailored one at that. It suits her way better than that frilly purple thing.

“Calm down, Daisy!” Donald takes a step toward her with his hands turned up. He reaches for her hand. “I'm sure there's a reason the Queen-”

Both her hands turn into fists. “Don't you tell me to calm down, you bobble-bill!” she shouts, raising one above her head to shake at him.

“Wak?” Donald jumps back in surprise. Riku's kind of hoping she'll sock him one, but she plugs her hands into her waist instead.

“Minnie would never-” She stops herself, casts a sidelong look at Sora and Riku before amending, “ _Her Majesty_ would never just disappear like this! The Kingdom is her life!”

“Maybe she just needed a break,” Goofy posits.

Sora nods his agreement. “Right. It's a pretty tough job.” He sees the look Riku gives him and adds, “It'll be easy for you, though.”

“If she needed to unwind, she'd have told me.” Daisy rolls her shoulders with a sigh. She's standing stiff as a board. Riku didn't think a duck could carry that much tension. “She'd be at the chalet. She would have brought me with her.”

“She's probably with the King,” Sora says, folding his hands behind his neck. “Don't you think?”

Daisy dismisses the notion, massaging her temples. “When Their Majesties travel, they bring attendants. No one's missing.”

“Maybe they wanted to be-” A beat. Sora's looking at the ceiling. “Y'know,” He drops his gaze back down. Lifts his straight eyebrows at her as he finishes, “Alone?”

Another beat. “You think-” Daisy's eyebrows raise, too, sliding slowly up her forehead. Realization dawning. Her face reddens as she purses her lips (bill.) “They can't do that! There's protocol!” she blurts shrilly. She's the highest-strung duck Riku's ever seen in his life.

“I think they can do whatever they want.” There's a smile tugging at the corners of Sora's mouth. He doesn't give into it just yet. Probably doesn't want Daisy to think that he's laughing at her. “They're royalty, aren't they?”

“Yes, but-” He cuts her off, but gently.

“Two people, alone.” For a moment his eyes wander along the wall, following the long line of standards that leads all the way up to the throne. “One-on-one tour of the worlds. That's pretty romantic, right?”

Daisy hesitates. “I suppose.”

“So can you blame them?” Sora tilts his head at her. “They're married, after all. They must like each other a little bit.”

“I just-” Daisy crosses her arms over her chest. A little bit of tension has drained out of her shoulders. (That's good. It's nice to see her relax, even just a tad.) “I don't know why she wouldn't have told me.” (Riku likes Daisy. She's anxious. They have a lot in common.)

“If she did, would you have let her leave you behind?” Sora asks her. (Why is Donald the one they're traveling with?)

Daisy rubs her hands together and looks down at her shoes. Considers the question, quietly. “No,” she admits. (Riku wonders if she can do magic.)

“'Course not. You're her best friend.” The smile that appears on Sora's face is different than usual. It's softer, warmer. Knowing. It fades when he continues. “I got separated from my best friend once.” He doesn't look at Riku. Must be able to feel Riku looking at him because he keeps his eyes fixed steadily on Daisy. And for a moment, they're sad. “It stinks.” He's quiet for a moment. And then he drops his arms to his sides. And he's smiling again. “But she'll come back. She has to.” Nods his head decisively. “The King will take care of her. So don't worry. Okay?”

Daisy regards him uncertainly. And when his smile doesn't waver, she stops wringing her hands. “Alright.”

“And in the meantime-” Sora's smile splits wider 'til it's a full-blown grin. He throws an arm around Riku's shoulders. “Riku will take care of the kingdom!”

“What?!” Daisy's eyes go wide.

“Yep. Riku's king, now.” Sora squeezes Riku's shoulders. Produces the letter from his pocket and brandishes it proudly. “Says so right here on this note the King left.”

“Give me that!” She snatches it from his hand, unfolds it in a hurry and pores urgently over it. Then her eyes go even wider and she jumps – actually jumps – in surprise. She crows in distress. “Wak!” And she snaps her head up, whips her gaze from Sora to Riku back to Sora and then to Riku again, clutching the paper to her chest. “You–! He–!” Her whole body vibrates as she stares at them with a bewildered expression, flapping her beak wordlessly open and closed and reeling for something to say. She sputters and spits for a solid ten seconds before finally crying out, “Ugh! Mickey!”

 

* * *

 

Daisy's meltdown ended as quickly as it started. After two or three minutes of frantic twitching and rattling and short-circuiting she'd thrown up her hands and gone completely still, eyes shut. And she drew up every muscle in her body as tight as she could squeeze them and let it all out on a breath, forced them all to relax and gently rained her hands down to her sides. And her eyes flew open and she snapped her fingers, pointed to Riku and said, “If you think you're going to sit on that throne in _jeans_ , you've got another thing coming.”

She had him ushered away by a small mob of domestics, ordered him scrubbed half-raw and liberally spritzed with some expensive-smelling cologne that reminds him of the old man he used to play Canasta with on Thursday afternoons back when his mom made him volunteer at the Senior Citizen Center. Had the attendants wrestle him into tight pants and tall boots and what appeared to be a stiff double-breasted cavalry jacket live and direct from somebody's terrible high school production of _Les Miserables._ And they combed his hair. _Away_ from his face. And they used _product._ It was like being in a nightmare.

Sora seems amused enough, though, watching from atop the throne as Riku paces down the aisle toward him.

“Look at you,” he says, grinning waggishly. Little whistle. “Snazzy.”

Riku rolls his eyes. “Get out of there.”

“Right. Sorry.” Sora hops up out of the throne, stands beside it instead and gestures toward it with a flourish. “I forgot this is your seat, now. Your Majesty.”

Riku snorts un-majestically. “Shut up.” He comes to a stop at the foot of the steps that lead up to the platform the throne is on.

Sora joins him ground-level. “Is that hair gel?” he asks, reaching forward to touch Riku's hair without asking for permission.

“A little bit.”

“Wow.” He takes a step back and gives Riku an up-and-down. Eyes narrowed. “I wish Kairi could see you. She would say you're _so handsome._ ” He does his Kairi voice and Kairi head-toss. It makes Riku chuckle, which seems to be his aim. He crosses his arms and becomes Sora once more. “I wouldn't, though. Because I hate you.”

“Good.” Riku toes the red carpet.

“Yep.”

“I'm glad my knight hates me. Makes me feel really safe.”

“I'm kidding,” Sora helpfully provides.

“I figured.” Riku folds his arms, mirroring his stance. “You _did_ spend two years chasing me around the universe.”

An earnest nod. “And I'd do it again,” Sora says seriously. Riku knows that he means it.

He studies Sora's face. “So when the King runs off, he gets to name a successor.”

“Apparently.”

“What happens if the successor runs off?”

“You're running off?”

“Maybe.”

“To where?”

“Depends. Where do you wanna go?”

“Hmmm,” Sora hums thoughtfully. And he settles on, “Land of Dragons.”

“Land of Dragons,” Riku echoes.

“Yep.”

“What's in the Land of Dragons?”

“Mountains.” Sora meets his eyes. “I wanna go camping.”

“Okay.” They submit to a long moment of uninterrupted eye-contact. “Go hop in the ship and let's go.”

“You'd never do something like that.”

“No? I like camping.”

“Ditch the King.” Sora's eyes are two mountainside swimming holes. The hidden kind, deep and blue. “He'd ask you to lasso the moon and you'd do it.”

“Or die trying,” Riku murmurs. “I owe him a lot.” Maybe the mountains aren't such a bad idea. “I couldn't have saved you without him.”

Sora breaks his eyes away first, glancing bashfully toward the giant doors. “Yeah. Well.” He shrugs a half-shrug, his head twitching strangely. “What's gonna be your first order as king?” He looks back at Riku.

Riku ponders. “Think I'm gonna outlaw brunettes,” he says judiciously.

Sora huffs. “What?”

“Yeah.” Riku scratches his chin. Daisy probably should have had her people give him a shave. “Gettin' pretty tired of seein' all this brown hair everywhere. M'gonna have to do something about it.”

“That's a dumb rule,” Sora says matter-of-factly.

Riku clicks. “Don't care. I'm king.”

“What are you gonna do with 'em all?”

“Do with who?”

“The brunettes. You gonna cram us in a trash compactor?”

“I'm gonna shoot you all out into space.”

“I'm great in space,” Sora says, jabbing a finger toward him.

“Are you?”

“You know I am.” He cracks his knuckles one by one. “I'll just start my own planet. We'll all live there.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Thanks.” Sora stares at him with an unreadable expression. And then he says, “I think you're gonna be a good king.”

Riku raises an eyebrow. “Why's that?”

“'Cuz I know you.” He drops his hands into his pockets. Tilts his head. “I know what you're like.” Hidden pools. “And I know you're a softy,” he finishes, pulling his head back upright.

Riku touches his heart. “How could you say that to me?” he asks, voice loaded full of fake betrayal.

“See?” Sora smiles at him. He spends several seconds inspecting the medals on Riku's lapel, then looks back toward the door. “I should probably see if Donald and Goofy are ready,” he mutters.

Riku frowns. “You're leaving?”

Sora takes a few steps away from the throne. “Just for a bit.” He smiles innocuously, which can't mean anything but trouble.

“Where are you going?” Riku asks.

“Can't tell you.”

He scoffs. “What do you mean you can't tell me?”

“I can't tell you!” Sora repeats, throwing up his hands. He walks backward toward the exit.

“Your king commands you to tell him where you're going,” Riku says as authoritatively as he can. Which isn't very.

Sora waves him off as he's turning his back. “My king should keep his kingly pants on. I'm just running an errand.”

“When will you be back?” Riku tries to shove his hands in his pockets only there aren't any on these trousers.

“Soon.” Sora pauses in front of the door. “Don't worry. I'll be back in time to watch your beheading.”

And that's very encouraging. “Great.”

“I'm kidding! Knock 'em dead!” Sora braces his back against the door and uses his legs to start pushing it open. It's about as heavy as it looks. “But don't really. They'll totally behead you for that.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Riku says.

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Sora bows as best as he can while propping a preposterously heavy door open. “I'll see you later?”

“I'll be here,” Riku tells him. And he will, whether he likes it or not.

“'Kay.” Sora fixes him with one last smile. Only his head is left inside the door. “Bye.”

“Bye.” Riku returns the farewell and watches him slip away. The door swings loudly to a close and leaves him standing alone in the room's great empty belly. His sigh resounds like a chorus of exasperated ghosts. “I hate this already.”


	2. patter (roxas/naminé - foot fetish)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hey can you tell i'm uncomfortable with this subject matter???? :-)
> 
> this ended up being less about feet and more about shoes lmao

He gets sweaty just looking at them.

In sandals, boots, high heels and sneakers they always look amazing.

He likes it best when she wears open-toed, admires dainty toes with well-manicured nails invariably painted some pretty shade of soft pink. (The one he likes the best is called Petal. It's slightly peachier than baby pink but not quite as beige as a ballet pink. The differences are subtle, but he can tell them apart in most lights.)

Her soles are rosy and soft and her heels are smooth and they fit so perfectly in his hands that he _knows_ they're made for each other.

And she isn't even ticklish. Which is the best part. He can touch them all he wants and she isn't even bothered.

Her shoe collection is outlandishly large. It takes up the lion's share of their closet. He doesn't even care. He wants to see them in everything. By and large they were bought bought by him anyway.

His favorite ones are red. Suede pumps, peep-toe with a five-inch heel. He told her he got them from TJ Maxx. He didn't. They're Louboutins. Cost him nine-hundred dollars. Thank god she doesn't care enough to check labels. She'd have made him return them.

She seems to find them comfortable enough. She's even tried to wear them out before. He just couldn't let her. Those things went on and she didn't even make it out of the bedroom before he had her horizontal. And what a sorry pair they were later, rolling up to the bar more than an hour late; Roxas with lipstick on his teeth and on his collar, Naminé with ruffled hair and All-Stars on her feet.

“Nami,” Kairi had said, frowning over her mojito. “What happened?”

“Sorry,” Naminé said sheepishly, sidling up beside her. “Traffic.”

“I'm not talking about why you're late. I'm talking about those.” She looked pointedly down at Naminé's feet. “That outfit is so cute but those shoes are a disaster.” Riku, who had a knack for fashion and just so happened to also be a gigantic disaster himself, looked too.

Naminé joined in their evaluation. “Oh,” she said, shifting her weight. They were Roxas's converse, which he still had from high school. Dark green, low-top. Dingy and gray where they ought to be white and punched full of holes. A shuriken doodled on one of the toes in black ballpoint pen because he used to watch a lot of Naruto. Roxas watched from where he stood with Sora at the end of the bar, holding an all-but-empty glass which apparently once contained the old-fashioned Sora had ordered for him and then proceeded to drink most of because he didn't get there fast enough.

Naminé lifted her head. “They're my favorite,” she said brightly. Her eyes found Roxas, twinkled as her lips curled into a private smile.

“Wow,” Roxas said under his breath.

Sora looked at him. “What?”

Roxas turned to face him. “Wooooow.”

“Wow what?” Sora asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

He leaned his back against the bar and smiled up at the ceiling. “Woooooooow.”

“Dude!” Sora squawked irritably, “Stop!”


	3. she (gen - kidfic)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is old  
> like... really old

Sora's dad left when he was four.

He sat by the door every night for a month, waiting five to eight until she'd say, "Bedtime, cowboy. _Vamos_ ," and whisk him away to the bathroom. He waited up after she tucked him in, too; one time she checked on him at two a.m. -- one of those nights where she couldn't sleep, couldn't do anything but stay up and cry -- and he was sitting up in bed with his eyes fixed on his doorway, waiting like a little zombie. She laid him down again, tucked the sheets up under his chin and he went out like a light. She lied down next to him and cried some more, crunched up in his little bed with the guardrails still on it.

She should have handled it better. Should have cried less, should have shouted less. Should have held him more. But it was hard, so hard when she was always so tired from work, working twice the hours, twice as hard for only a little more pay. She would sit on the couch and close her eyes, just to rest for a moment, and Sora would paw at her leg and say, "I'm hungry, Mom," and she'd heave a sigh and tell him, "Five minutes," and he'd pout but he'd leave her be. And when she opened her eyes it would be eleven o'clock, and Sora would be asleep on the floor, hugging her leg and she still hadn't fed him.

Chi held her hand tightly as she told her about it, studied her face and listened intensely, placidly. She was quiet when Skye finished, leaned back in her porch chair and watched two squirrels in the maple tree in her huge back yard. Ruminated a bit, considered all of this new information. When she finally spoke she was deliberate. Authoritative. "Here's what's going to happen," she said, and stared her in the eyes like a cross-examination. "I'll take Sora for the weekend. I'm going to bring him back Monday morning, and you're going to have pulled yourself together. Understand?"

The weekend was agonizing. She begged Chi to keep him for another day. "I'm not ready yet," she said, sobbing on her front porch and feeling humiliated, feeling ashamed. Chi's car was parked in the driveway still running, Sora and Riku buckled up inside.

Chi squared her jaw and said, like an archangel, like Superwoman, "I know you're not. Go and get your son anyway."

Sora didn't go to be hungry again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> obviously not canon-compliant bc sora's dad is referenced multiple times in-game & is clearly not a deadbeat. this is just something choppy & unfinished i dug out of an old writing folder so i could have another square to cross off lmao  
> chi's the name i gave to riku's mom bc riku = land & chi = earth  
> & i call sora's mom skye bc... obvious reasons


End file.
